Christ Before Caiaphas

In a crowded, torch-lit hall, a bound and calm Christ stands before the enthroned High Priest. Caiaphas, wearing a miter and heavy vestments, pulls at his collar in dramatic fury while soldiers in contemporary 16th-century armor look on. A small dog stands in the foreground, contrasting with the intense, shadows-filled atmosphere of the interrogation.

Hendrick Goltzius was a member of the Family of Love, a mystical spiritualist sect that emphasized 'the Christ within' and inner spiritual transformation over outward dogma. This series, known as the 'Master Prints,' shows Goltzius's ability to emulate the style of earlier masters like Dürer, a practice of 'stylistic chameleonisim' that some scholars link to the Hermetic idea of the artist as a Protean creator.